Apparently – her husband had gone for a “meeting” – and it was decided that the entire neighbourhood will vote for XXX symbol.

“So you vote for XXX symbol every time,” I asked her.

“No – last time we all voted for YYY symbol,” she said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because “WE” had decided,” she said.

Of course – she did not know anything about the ideology of the political parties to which the symbols XXX and YYY belonged.

It was none of her business.

Before every election – it was the men who had a meeting – and it was decided who to vote for in the election – and – the women dutifully complied.

(Of course – the men had a “leader” who guided them in these matters)

Like Sushila’s husband – most of the men in that area were drunkards who lived off their wives’ earnings.

But all that did not matter.

In the patriarchal society that prevailed, the women dutifully obeyed their men, even if the men were good-for-nothing drunkards.

So – in Sushila’s family of 7 voters (she, her husband, her two sons and daughters-in-law, and unmarried daughter) – all would be voting for the symbol XXX which had been “decided”.

Added up – it was quite a large number of votes in the locality – and since they all of them voted en-bloc for a certain “symbol” – it was quite a sizeable “votebank”.

A few more such solid “vote-banks” could ensure victory in the election – as the victory of the XXX candidate proved.

Around 3 PM in the afternoon we saw Sushila standing near our gate.

“Have you voted?” I asked her.

“No,” she said.

“Voting time will be over soon. Why didn’t you vote in the morning?” I said.

“They haven’t come to take us,” she said.

“They haven’t come to take you? What do you mean?” I asked.

A friend of mine who had come over and was hearing the conversation said to me: “Don’t you know? Someone has to come and take them to the polling booth in a vehicle. And then – they have to be given some inducement to vote –here the ‘incentive’ is mostly a bottle of liquor for the men – these guys and their families will vote only after the men are given a bottle of liquor.”

After some time – I saw a van arrive near our gate.

The van had come to take all them for voting.

And so – they all went to cast their votes in the election.

EPILOGUE

In the evening we saw Sushila’s husband and her sons lurching in a drunken manner on the road.

We observed that most of the men were drunk that evening – after consuming the liquor being distributed freely on election day – as an incentive for them to vote.

It was obvious that liquor was flowing freely on election day (though strictly speaking – it was a “dry day”)

At night – when Sushila came to work – we saw tears in her eyes.

She said that her husband and her sons were drunk – after drinking all the free liquor distributed on election day.

Sushila’s husband had thrashed her – he bashed her up – as he always did when he was drunk.

And now – one of her drunk sons had beaten up his young wife too.

“See what you did...?” my wife said to Sushila, “you voted for the person who gave liquor to your husband and sons – and what did you get in return – your husband got drunk and he beat you up – and – your drunk son beat up his wife – in fact – most of you women must have voted for those who are causing you more harm than good.”

What an irony...!!!

Why did Sushila vote for someone who caused her more harm than good...?

Yes – why do people vote for someone who causes them more harm than good...?

1. This story is a fictional spoof, satire, pure fiction, just for fun and humor, no offence is meant to anyone, so take it with a pinch of salt and have a laugh.

2. All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

About Me

A creative person with a zest for
life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated
at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School
Pune, Vikram has published two books:COCKTAILa collection of fiction short stories about relationships
(2011) andAPPETITE FOR A STROLLa
book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel, writing short fiction and compiling his memoirs. An avid
blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative
non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, books, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories, self help and art of living essays in magazines and journals and published a number of professional research papers and reviews and edited in-house magazines and journals for many years, before the advent
of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to
creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse -
his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative
thoughts.